Gateway to Infinity, the unsung truth
by zRISC
Summary: BoF2: About Ganer and Yua Bateson and how did they survive the events in the Prologue, 10 years before the main events. Heavy Spoilers for the game. long one-shot. Will set events for a novelization in the future. M for strong language; R&R please.


**Gateway to Infinity, the unsung truth.**

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**Summary:** BoF2: About Ganer and Yua Bateson and how did they survive the events in the Prologue, 10 years before the main events. Heavy Spoilers for the game.

**" ….. " spoken dialogues.**

**'* …. *' character thoughts.**

**'** … **' telepathic speech to another character.**

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**Back Mountains of the Village of Gate, Windian Territory.  
****(10 years before main storyline of Breath of Fire 2)**

An old man who had white hair and a beard of the same color, with brown eyes and usually a kind expression in them, but now witha somewhat concerned look, was deep in thought. He was Father Ganer Bateson, Priest of the Holy Church of St. Eva destined to the town of Gate, since 20 years ago. In one hand he held a pendant that was a memento from Valerie Bateson, his deceased wife, gone three years ago in an attack from demons that came from the back mountains. The pendant was a transparent jewel in the form of a tear, that was centered by the shape of a dragon, around the main jewels were two smaller crystals in the claws of the dragon; it was made in a metal that he didn't know, but for sure it was made by magical means, for he could perceive great magic emanating from it... so much that it could be considered in a divine level. It was a mirrored copy of the one his eldest son, Ryu Bateson had, courtesy of his wife, before her time came; by mirrored you can understand that if Ryu's dragon pendant head was looking to the left, this one was looking to the right. In his other hand, he held his seven year old daughter's hand. She was a bubbly little girl, with long light blue hair like her mother's, but split into two pigtails, expressive green eyes.

"_Daddy, please._" asked the girl. "_I was telling the truth. Mother comes in my dreams if I sleep near the Dragon._" she almost started pouting.

Ganer stopped, and knelt to be eye level with her, released her hand and put his free hand in her shoulder. "Yua-chan." he smiled to her. "_I believe you. In fact, it's time that I give you something that she asked me to before she parted._" Then he took his necklace that he had in his other hand and told her. "_Take it, a Dragon Tear, like your brother's._"

Yua was stunned for a moment, then smiled and exclaimed _"Yay!" _with a tone of happiness. He put it in her hand and released it. Somehow, Yua felt an inmense relief, her father wasn't lying, he wasn't angry, and he loved her. Yua looked at the pendant, it was shining with a bright blue light.

"_I love you my dear Yua._" her father said. _"Even if you make me run and my age doesn't help me a bit, i love you. I see your mother in yourself."_

_"Dad..." _Yua said, now shedding tears of happiness. "_Thank you. I promise to be a good girl from now on._"

Ganer smiled. '*_She always says that, and I always forgive her. But i can't blame her... she misses Valerie as much as i do._*'

_"Let's go Yua-chan." _he said. _"It's almost dinner time, and we need to have it ready when we get home, to eat with Ryu." _He took his daughter's hand, and both walked happily to the village of Gate.

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Before exiting the path in the wood that led to the mountains, Ganer felt a surge of power. Somehow he knew who caused it _'*Father Aruhamel... damn you! A moment too soon...*'._ He couldn't leave Yua here, but he also couldn't take her with him. He didn't know what to do for a moment, until he remembered...

**---- Flashback ----  
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_In the back mountains of the village of Gate, were Ganer and Valerie. He was looking at her in the eyes, she was in front of the center cavern in the mountains -there were three, the other two were smaller-, __this cavern had a sealed gate made of a strange metal-like material, but the other two were cracked, in the verge of opening completely. He didn't know what would come out if it happened, but since there were pesky little demons coming out in swarms, it couldn't be good. His wife hugged him, and spoke softly to him in a whisper._

_"Ganer... remember, even if you're a priest of St. Eva, the Dragon God will never turn away the people in need. In the direst times of our kin, he always gave us a ray of hope. Remember the Dragon Tear that i gave you as a token of my vow to marry you. Though it works only for my kin, it may perform a miracle for you, since you are one who truly loves a Priestess of the Dragon Clan, to the point that you decided to forsake your faith in St. Evans, and only run the church in appearances for the people in Gate who believes. I also thank you from the bottom of my heart for helping me restore the Shrine of Ladon, the Dragon God, and for teaching our children to be open minded about the religions. I love you. Protect our children from harm."_

_Then she kissed him passionately, as if not wanting to leave his side._

_"Valerie... i love you as well." he stated, both crying openly. Somehow they knew this would be their last kiss._

_"Now let us go to destroy the demons in the village and protect the people, for i have a duty and a purpose to fulfill... as a Priestess of my clan... and as a mother of two wonderful children... and your wife, my dear Ganer... Ladon, I, Valerie Bateson, the Maiden in your Service state my desire to use my power to protect everything i hold dear!"_

_"Accesion..... Radiant Draconic Priestess!" she exclaimed, and he knew those would be her last spoken words in this world._

_Ganer had to close his eyes, for an aura of holiness emanated from Valerie and produced a brilliant sphere of light that covered her. Then he heard a mighty roar, from a beast that was thought only existed in legends. A majestic silvery white dragon stood in front of him, enormous in her size, so much that he looked like when a mouse is compared to a human, with its scales as hard as steel, white as the finest ivory; her wings were leathery but had some feathers in the arm parts. She had the same emerald deep green eyes, but they were huge compared to his... but he knew that gaze... it was Valerie's... full of love for him, their children and the people in the village. She took him with one of her massive paws and put him in her back, then took flight into the skies, and inhaled some air. Soon in front of her maw, a massive sphere of holy magical energy appeared, radiating enormous amounts of power, so much that even the most skilled magician would find hard to gather, was ready to be unleashed in mere seconds. From the skies he saw the demons instilling terror in the village, and started using his magic to protect the people in the village. Then, he heard Valerie's voice exclaiming directly in his mind. '**Radiant Breath!**'. _

_A stream of white fire, brimming with holy power was unleashed from her maw... it incinerated every single demon that it touched, mercilessly. The demons tried to close on her to attack her but were sent into the ground thanks to Ganer's magic, then burned to ashes by the Radiant Dragon's Breath. But the breath had also an interesting effect on people who were attacked by the demons... it instantly healed their wounds, but left them unconscious for the time being._

_The dragon landed in the back mountains, in front of the central sealed cavern and signaled Ganer to descend from her back. '*No normal hybrid human has been ever granted the honor of riding a Priestess of my clan... but you aren't precisely normal... you're special, my Ganer. You touched my heart as no other person alive, not even in my clan could.*' then she chuckled, but in draconic form it didn't look soothing precisely; to anyone else it would have looked sinister, but he knew better, and felt at ease. He had known his wife for years, yet this was the only time she revealed the full extent of her powers to him. '*I meant it both ways, you slowpoke.*' she chuckled again. '*Those were wonderful passionate nights, and i loved how you embraced me after we had sex, and how sell we slept in each other arms.*'. He couldn't help but turn beet red, but laughed aloud remembering every time._

"_My dear... thank you for everything. I love you._" _He then walked to her and kissed her softly in her nose... it was strange... soft, but also hardened by her nature; it wasn't hot considering she had just exhaled a stream of fire. She then caressed him softly with her tongue, and he didn't found it so weird. '*Well, it's to be expected in that form.*' he thought.  
_

_'**Farewell my husband. I will sleep here for a long time. I will always love you...**' she spoke in his __mind, then she took of to the skies and descended upon the mountain. Each one of her front arms covered the smaller caverns, and the seals were restored on them. Then she covered the central gate with her head, and entered into a long sleep._

_"Valerie...." shouted Ganer, unable to contain his sorrow...._

**---- End Flashback ----**

He knelt again to look her daughter at eye level. _"Yua. Remember that i wil always love you, no matter what happens." _and took the hand in which she held her Dragon Tear. And started gathering magical energy. Then he began praying aloud. _"Oh Majestic Dragon God Ladon. Please if there is any danger here and now, take my daughter away from me to safety. I trust your judgement on this. Please."_

A deep voice answered in his mind. '_*Consort of the Draconic Priestess of Dragony. Thine wish shalt be granted. I warn thee though, thou shalt endure pain and hard times for years to come. Art thou truly willing to walk this dark road that thou has built for thyself? *'_

_"Yes, Lord Ladon. I am ready." _Ganer stated.

"_Dad?_" Yua asked. "_What are you doing? Daddy?_"

"_Yua, forgive me._" Ganer looked at her in the eyes. _"I'm doing what i must, to protect you, though it will cause us great pain. I asked the Dragon God to take you to safety."_

_"Daddy! No!." _cried Yua, running to hug her father, and once she did, she started feeling dizzy. As if the world in front of her was vanishing. She held on tighter to the Dragon Tear, a gift from both her mother and father, and maybe now the only memento she would have of both. The jewel started shining with the colors of a rainbow.

_"Until we meet again, dear Yua." _said Ganer. Looking at the vanishing form of his daughter, going away in a too familiar Warp spell, but with an unknown destination... at least for him.

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Once his daughter was safe, he hardened his resolution, and went back to the village. Once he arrived, he saw a unit of Paladins of St. Eva Church picking up unconscious villagers, and taking them to their homes. He wondered what was going on.

_"Ah... the traitor to Our God has finally shown himself." _a mocking voice spoke. Ganer knew this voice, a lifelong friend, but someday he changed definitely, into something different; he couldn't tell what it was, but somehow he knew that his childhood friend had been changed forever, and not for good.

_"Albert Aruhamel... it has been a long time since we met..." _Ganer said, recognizing in the person that spoke to him, a tall man that looked in his late thirties, with crimson eyes and long gray-black hair. But he had his same age, and had not aged a day since he changed for worse. Something was not right.

"_Indeed, my friend Ganer Bateson.._" answered him. "_It seems that the evil serpent lady enchanted you beyond redemption. Not that i blame you, she was a fine specimen of a woman. Nice tits and a soft butt, and a desirable figure as well. I'd have paid a fortune just to be able to lick her cunt. But i bet that if you tried to fuck her in her true form, she would have just smothered you with that enormous scaly backside of hers._"

Ganer was enraged beyond his limit, but he was struggling to keep calm and not to give int to his anger. No one spoke in that way of his Valerie, he was right as well, she was truly desirable, but no one dared to be so obscene about her. His words were true enought but he perceived his malicious intentions behind them.

_"No need to blow up my old friend. I bring you a chance to redeem yourself in the eyes of Our God."_

_"Don't waste your breath, I do not fear death. And i'm sure that the Dragon God is the one who is right in this world, and not a God who asks us to give ourselves in to him, instead of letting us have true freedom." _said Ganer, now smirking.

_"I see... anyways... where is your child. The founder wants to speak with her."_

_"I truly don't know.... old friend..." _smiled Ganer.

_"You lie!" _spat Aruhamel. "_Tell me now, where is she?_"

"_Hahaha_" now Ganer laughed. "_Ask the Dragon God himself. But I doubt he would consider even snorting if you address him._"

"_Damn you Ganer! You're as good as dead! Soldiers, grab him alive. The founder will make him sing._"

Seven paladins in full armour plate began to circle around him.

_"Surrender peacefully old man, and we will be merciful." _said one of them.

_"I know Evans mercy and it is nonexistant!"_

The armored soldiers charged. and when they were close enought to him, he spoke aloud. "_Nova Thunder!_"; magical energy was inmediately released from him, and a ring of electricity emerged in a radial wave, and struck all the soldiers, who were blown back by the sheer force of the spell, some crashing into trees or houses, other landing in a not so soft way in the soil.

_"Aruhamel... as you see I don't plan to surrender easily." _Ganer smiled to his once friend.

"_Then let us end this!_" he shouted, now gathering magical energy in his hands, and hurling it to Ganer.

"_You started it._" said Ganer, releasing energy of his own to hold and counter Aruhamel's. _"I knew that you changed but didn't want to believe the truth when Valerie told me, that time we met some years ago here when you came for a routine visit." _Ganer remembered Valerie's expression that day when she saw his old friend and were introduced, she was uneasy, he would say almost angry but he never saw her that way. He saw her jewel flash crimson red for an instant, then went pitch black. Then she took her leave from the reunion. Later that night she explained to him the meaning of the colors in the Jewel: _'*Red means that that person is willing to kill you; Black means that the person has turned into a demon at heart, and will stop at nothing to fulfill his desires. I'm sorry for you... but you will have to choose... your evil friend, or me. He wants to murder me.*'. _That was a hard choice, for Albert had been an orphan like him, both being raised by Father Habaruku, founder of St. Evans church; the were childhood friends, then partners in the seminar and teachings; even missionaires together.

Both magicians were equally matched with their powers, no one giving quarter to the other. The soldiers who started to recover just watched in awe and didn't try to intervene, should they be obliterated by the raw power harnessed in front of them.

"_Damn that fat-assed serpent-bitch and her eye. If it weren't for her Our God would have awakened by now._"

"_More the reason to have trusted her judgement._" spat Ganer. "_Now you know that you can't win against me without the aid of your god._"

"_And that is what i'm going to do now._" said Aruhamel. _"Behold, soldiers! Our God has granted me the power to vanquish this infidel. I shall use it and obliterate him." _then he started changing into a werewolf-like form, standing 10 feet tall straight, with a enormous mage staff, full of runes with some demonic incantations carved on it, and obsidian crystals. He started charging power in the staff.

_"I see, you sold your soul for power. You will not be free even if you die in the service of your god. You will become his energy and lose your only chance to redemption."_ said Ganer.

_"I just accepted the power that you refused that fateful day; instead of that you chose to come to this backwater village and live as a simple and humble priest. You had much power that would have helped our god. Now you will pay for that." _said Aruhamel in a raspy, deeper voice, and then released a ball of magic energy directed towards Ganer: it was way too much for any mage to counter it.

Ganer shielded from it, and struggled trying to deflect it; he was able to send it to the heavens, but that effort tired him enormously. Finally he knelt, exhausted. "_This is it... farewell... former old friend... someday you will perish and realize your mistake..._"

_"As if... Our god has granted me inmortality." _spat Aruhamel. _"Soldiers, disable and seize him to be taken to Evrai."_

One of the soldiers hit Ganer in the head with a sandbag to render him unconscious, and then they tied him and took him to a wagon they used for carrying stuff.

"_Now the founder will see to him, I don't have to trouble myself anymore now that the serpent-bitch is dead to the world. But i shall not go to the other child of this man... Lord Barubary said he wanted to test him, in person... i will not interfere in that._"

Then he reverted to his human form, and walked away from the village, using a magic spell to restore the damage to leave out any kind of evidence that a magic battle happened here, at least to plain sight. Then he marched with the soldiers to receive the new preacher of this church, Father Hulk. Finally he warped the entire batallion to Evrai, but was not wanting to report that he failed to capture the young dragon clansgirl, that could be used to free their God. But his duty here was complete. No villager would remember anything from before this incident... they would believe that Father Hulk has always been the priest in this village.

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**Mountain Range of the Arad Desert, South of HighFort.**

**Hidden Village of Bleak.**

** Three days Later after the Gate-incident.**

Yua woke up... she only could remember her father saying goodbye and warping her out of the village. '*_Where am I?*' _she thought. She looked and was in a room that was well lit through a windows facing northwest, there also was a closed wooden door; it was past noon by the shadows, but the sunlight was quite brighter than she remembered. The room was quite cool inside. The door opened.

"_So, you have awakened, little girl._" a female voice said. It was somewhat deep for a woman. Yua looked at the owner and saw a middel aged woman with tanned skin, brown eyes, wavy shoulder-length black hair, wearing a turban; she was using a white tunic that covered her whole body but gave ger freedom of movements.

"_Who are you?_" asked Yua, a bit startled. _"Where am I? Where is my dad?". _Then she started crying helplessly.

The woman was carrying a tray with some food and orange juice; she left it in a table, and went to calm the girl; she embraced and caressed hern until she stopped sobbing. Now Yua seemed more willing to listen.

"_I don't know about your father, i'm sorry._" said the woman. "_My name is Eriana Smith, from the Fusion Clan. And we are in the hidden village of Bleak, in the mountains south of HighFort._"

"_Where is that?_" asked Yua. She felt sympathy from this woman, and felt the Dragon Tear against her chest; she stole a glance from it and saw it shining softly with a yellow-green glow. Yua decided that she could trust this woman. "_I used to be in a village named 'Gate'... I was with my father... and everything started fading then._"

_"My husband Erias and i found you in the desert near The Tomb of The Master Thief, three days ago. You are truly fortunate, for the desert is merciless. We brought you here, to take care of you."_

Yua felt that she was telling the truth, the memento of her mother did not lie.

"_I'm Yua Bateson, and i'm seven years old._" she smiled. _"My father used to be a priest of St. Eva church, named Ganer Bateson... but..." _her eyes went watery, and now Eriana hugged her again.

_"Don't worry, my hubby and I will take care of you. Whe will raise you as our daughter, if you want... we never were able to have children of our own..." _now Eriana was about to cry. Yua felt truth again, and saw the jewel glow Emerald Green and was able to feel friendliness from her. Yua went and hugged her.

"_Let me call you mama... i used to have a mother... but she passed away years ago... i want to have a father and mother again._" Yua smiled to her.

Another voice spoke from the door. "_I see you have awakened little Yua._" a dark skinned man wirh long hair taken in a ponytail, and violet eyes gazed upon her. _"I see that you already met my wife; I'm Erias Smith, of the Fusion Clan... to be more precise, a Phantom Thief."_

Yua looked the man, who was walking towards her and his wife, and sat in a chair near them. She felt the friendliness, and saw the emerald glow. "_Daddy.... mommy..... pleased to meet you..._" Yua smiled. "_What is a Phantom Thief?_"

She felt another hand in her shoulder, looked to where Erias was, but didn't see him there. Instead she looked to the hand in her shoulder and saw him behind her. "_That we are; the ones who move swiftly with the wind, faster than the eye can see. But not quick enough to those gifted with the Eye of a Dragon... a Dragon Tear._"

Yua gasped surprised. How did he knew.

"_I saw the jewel, touched it and survived. We are a clan that has lived in hiding for centuries; and we still have our lore intact. Ir you have evil intentions and touch one of those jewels, holy fire wil appear from it and burn you; if not it will be just a crystal. But in your case it works... because it was given to you from a rightful owner.... and because you must be... from the long lost Dragon Clan._" Erias stated.

Yua wasn't believing it. She always thought herself as a normal girl. She had little memories of her mother, but remembered her silvery-pink coloured wings, that she kept always folded, and how they ended in talons. Now some things started to make sense.

"_Dragon Clan..._" Yua said aloud. "_I can't believe it..._"

_"My hubby speaks the truth, little Yua." _said Eriana._ "You will see in time. For now, you have to eat, and then we will raise you as our own, and you will learn everything about being a Phantom Thief."_

_"Yes, mom, daddy." _

_"Then, to the world you will be known as Patty Smith. But in our home, you will still be our new daughter Yua." _smiled Erias, while talking to Yua.

"_Patty..._"said the girl aloud, repeating it several times, to memorize it. "_I will be a Phantom Thief and make you proud._" she smiled, and hugged her new foster parents. But deep in her heart she missed her real parents and her elder brother.

**The End.  


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**Author Notes:**

- I'm supposing that Valerie, Ryu and Yua's mother did gave them each one a Dragon Tear. I know there is supposed to be only one -Ryu's-, but i'm taking some liberties in here :D. Besides it will set the scenario for the novelization of BoF2 that i'm planning to write in the near future.

- Also took some liberties with the dragon transformation system... BoF2's one sucks badly. BoF3 is more like the way to go, so i'll take this 'creative license' when writing. Also, I'm assuming Valerie's Draconic Priestess form to be a rather large dragon, not as big as the Kaiser form, but close enough.

- For some spells i'm going to take liberties with the magic grimoire, to make narrative more enjoyable :D

- Ganer is a magician so why couldn't he use magic in more creative ways ? :D

- I changed Aruhamel's demonic form for narrative effects. Though it pains me to use a Crinos form in that way :(

- 2009-07-23: fixed some really stupid typos... argggh...note to self: read carefully about 20 times before publishing :S


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